Minutes - TRIPS Council - View details of the intervention/statement

Ambassador Carmen Luz Guarda (Chile)
E.iii Updated information on technical cooperation activities
48. The Chairperson recalled that, at the Council's meetings in February and May 1996, it had been agreed that developed country Members would annually update information on their technical cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. Last year, this had been done in time for the Council's meeting in September 1996. She suggested that also this year developed country Members update this information in time for the meeting scheduled for 19 September. In addition, she suggested that the Council invite the intergovernmental organization observers to the Council to provide information on their technical cooperation activities, as they had also done last year. In addition, the WTO Secretariat might provide, as in previous years, a note on its activities. This would enable the Council to focus also this year on technical cooperation at its meeting in September. In order to enable the timely processing and distribution to Members of this information, the Chairperson suggested that developed country Members and the intergovernmental organizations in question be invited to provide such written contributions by 1 September. She also drew Members' attention to the fact that last year the Council had received information on technical cooperation activities from 14 developed country Members, while in 1995 such information had been received from 13 Members. There were still a number of developed country Members that had not yet provided any information on their technical cooperation activities. She underlined that it was important that each developed country Member provide information to the Council as agreed, and urged those Members that had not yet provided any information to make a special effort to supply the information in time for the next meeting.
IP/C/M/14